Posted by dspahlinger on 3/1/2013 7:27:00 AM (view original):Actually I'm gong to be in Florida from March 9 to 16 attending 6 spring training games (and undoubtedly some bars )-we'll see 10 different teams at 6 different ballparks. I will have internet access but my time availability wll be very variable. If we are drafting off the clock I would probably be able to make one pick every day, just couldn't predict when.

cardsfan - i will make the league # avail before the end of the weekend. that way people can see what the players look like, stats, ect. for some foreshadowing, baseball-reference.com has per season averages listed under career stats for every player.

i don't like using AAA in these leagues but it would act as insurance so that we all have enough PA's & IP's. the 154/162 difference doesn't matter as the stats already take into consideration a 162 game schedule. this is why guys like Al Simmons & Tris Speaker never need rest in career formats. even if a guy only played a few games in 1901, his career stats version will most likely be set up for a longer stamina (his career ave). assuming we use AAA they will be normal at best, possibly set up as below normal to insure things aren't screwed up by ultra-AAA's. the way i look at it, in 1901 there were a lot of guys who didn't get signed because scouting and the development of players isn't what it became when Branch Rickey got rolling. so it's feasible that a few players good enough to make a visit to the majors never got their chance. look at the old minor league Baltimore Orioles of the early 20's, which had Max Bishop & Lefty Grove on their roster for several years. these guys were stars in the big leagues, and Grove won 300 games, but Baltimore head on to them for years because the franchise was making good money off them. Heck, Grove was ready for the bigs when he was 21 but had to wait until he was 25 before he was sold to Connie Mack. this is how i justified the AAA to myself.

i think it will work out fine. we will all face the same challenges, and it changes things up a bit. if 1901 teaches us that we need to make some changes for 1902, then we will make those changes as the majority sees fit.

all trades are possible, including for future draft picks, as long as approved by league vote. majority rules. i expect everyone to compete each season and may devise a lottery similar to the NBA to insure against tanking, although i don't see it necessary with our current list of owners.

pick1or2 - we will start at 1901 and i hope you reconsider, but if you want to wait i will give you first dibs on any abandoned teams in the future.

i think i like the idea of AAA just to have more options. i am available for drafting in evenings and on weeekends. no internet access while at work. i wouldn't be opposed to providing proxy lists though.

Looking at catchers, there are 22 with pa's 300 or more and 60 over all. Waiver wire could be undrafted players and no need for AAA. I'm not sure about how wis allows setup but that sounds like something that could be done.

My count of 282 was based on players available in a regular progressive- I just did a search on career mode and got 262 players. However, the average number of PA's in career mode was considerably better than regular mode so it may balance out.. I got 29 catchers in career mode with 9,999 PA's total or 345 avg.

262 players for 12 teams is a little under 22 per team, but there would be plenty of PA's and IP's so I think single season would work fine. 10 teams would need 3 roster fillers and 2 teams would need 4, but there would be enough PA's and IP's not to need AAA.

In that era, teams got by with fewer than 20 players-as long as there are enough PA's and IP's it doesn't matter.